# Speculation Thread: If No WMD Are Found, What Strategy Will the USA Employ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 3, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233 "2003-04-03T16:47:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/41 "2003-05-29T12:20:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adaher \* > \*\*Because we thought the regime wasn’t nice? > > I’ve heard that said before and it’s rather strange. I think we can all agree that Hussein was more than just “not nice” and that his overthrow was a good thing. \*\* A very good thing. But if that argument carries sufficient weight, then why wasn’t the war sold on that premise instead ? Civilized countries are expected to refrain from starting wars unless under immediate threat. The WMD issue was oversold to give the impression of a threat where it’s becoming more and more likely that none existed, and so the rationale for the war is being changed in front of our eyes. I’m not a US voter, but if my elected officials did that to me, I’d be mad as all hell. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/42 "2003-05-29T12:25:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Futile Gesture \* > **If Bush did pick option 4 he would be officially making the US a rogue nation that invades others just because they don’t conform to their opinions of what’s right and proper. He would be making the US the self-proclaimed World Cop and the sole definers and defenders of justice.** Well, yes, exactly. Now his administration is threatening a country that actually has the popular support of its people, expressed through democratic elections, so he can’t even trot out the “evil dictator killing his own people” line. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/43 "2003-05-29T12:27:33Z")
The Bush Pustch is–[ul] [li]Whining[/li][li]Lying[/li][li]Distorting to beat the band[/li][li]Spinning faster than an industrial centerfuge (the kind you need to refine the bomb-grade radioactives they didn’t find, but brayed about in the Press.[/li][li]And next, Bush, Cheney, Rice & Rumsfeld will get up on stage, sing in four-part harmony, play the banjo, & dance a buck & wing if that’s what it takes to escape the shame & degradation that this needless war has earned them. we should buy them straw skimmer hats, bamboo canes, white slacks, & red/white striped coats for this. And tap shoes. Definitely tap shoes.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/44 "2003-05-29T13:00:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adaher \* > \*\*Because we thought the regime wasn’t nice? > > I’ve heard that said before and it’s rather strange. I think we can all agree that Hussein was more than just “not nice” and that his overthrow was a good thing. \*\* Context. Cost and benefit analysis of results and means of the same. See now the US is stuck with a risky little situation that is very costly, and at the same time US street cred. is at a real low. Either we lied like dogs or our intel was bullshit. Niether is helpful. Impatience and arrogance bought us a crappy situation, better policy easily could have gotten us in a better position. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/45 "2003-05-29T13:30:12Z")
[U.S. Hedges on Finding Iraqi Weapons](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51355-2003May28.html?nav=hptop_tb) > [@](#): > > Looking back at the spotlight the administration cast on the weapons issue in building its case for war, Wolfowitz said, “There was no oversell.” But he acknowledged yesterday that there “had been a tendency to emphasize the WMD [weapons of mass destruction] issue” as the primary justification for war because of differences of opinion within the administration over the strength of other charges against the Iraqi government, including its alleged ties to al Qaeda. It’s time for _all_ Americans to decide whether they prefer to [Spit or Swallow](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=173531&highlight=swallow+AND+spit). ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/46 "2003-05-29T13:33:38Z")
Don’t mind me. Just trying out my new sig. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/47 "2003-05-29T13:36:26Z")
Minty, That’s not nice. I like that. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/48 "2003-05-29T13:39:19Z")
Tony Blair, in his best grasping-at-straws tone, continues to insist that WMD _will_ be found. I almost feel sorry for the guy. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/49 "2003-05-29T13:57:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adaher \* > \*\*I’ve heard that said before and it’s rather strange. I think we can all agree that Hussein was more than just “not nice” and that his overthrow was a good thing. \*\* And Al Quaida is all agreed that the US is more than not nice. See, it really doesn’t work as justification if you want to keep the moral high ground and work within the law. And that law says you can’t invade another country just because you don’t like the way it’s run. Not even if you are all agreed about it. (And the “not nice” was me being sarcastic.) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/50 "2003-05-30T07:03:21Z")
**Doesn’t make it any more legal adaher. You don’t like a law get it changed** International law is not settled law, in most cases. In any case, laws that are never enforced are quite meaningless. That is the problem for almost all international laws. Iraq violated a slew of them and nothing happened until the US put an end to it, which was in itself a violation of international law. But in order to actually do anything to punish the US, that would require more violations of international law. Which is why the whole concept is ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233/51 "2003-05-30T07:19:28Z")
[Letterman’s Top Ten President Bush Excuses For Not Finding Weapons of Mass Destruction](http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/top_ten/) My favorite: > [@](#): > > **5. "How are we supposed to find weapons of mass destruction when we can’t even find Cheney?"** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-thread-if-no-wmd-are-found-what-strategy-will-the-usa-employ/166233.md?page=2)